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President  Roosevelt 

T he  a  - 


ON  THE 


AFRICA  DIAMOND 
JUBILEE 


A  part  of  an  address  delivered  by 
President  Roosevelt  at  a  mass  meeting 
inaugurating  the  Africa  Diamond 
Jubilee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  January  18,  1909,  at  Metro¬ 
politan  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


An  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  To¬ 
peka  (Kansas)  Capital,  January  19,  1909: 

President  Roosevelt’s  speech  at  the  celebra¬ 
tion  of  the  Africa  Diamond  Jubilee  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Washington  is 
one  of  the  President’s  greatest  speeches,  one  of 
his  worthiest  utterances,  a  speech  which  to 
an  extent  beyond  any  that  he  has  heretofore 
made,  brings  out  his  remarkable  versatility. 
The  President  is  said  to  be  an  “omnivorous 
reader,”  and  to  have  an  extraordinary  faculty 
of  assimilating  the  essentials  of  what  he  reads. 
Professor  Ferrero,  the  Italian  historian,  in  his 
articles  in  the  New  York  World,  has  been  tell¬ 
ing  something  of  his  own  experience,  as  a 
guest  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  with  the  President’s 
accurate  knowledge  of  many  things  outside  the 
ordinary  run  of  information.  In  thib  address 
to  the  Methodists  on  missions  and  the  larger 
work  of  civilized  governments  in  behalf  of 
backward  peoples  and  places  the  President 
summarizes  the  historical  facts  and  gives  such 
a  justification  of  Christian  missions  and  of 
political  missionary  work  by  the  colonizing 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  as  has  seldom, 
if  ever,  been  put  together  in  as  compact  a 
form. 

#  *  *  *  *  * 

As  a  vindication  of  missions  and  a  tribute 
to  the  results  of  missionary  effort,  the  Presi¬ 
dent’s  speech  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  that 
have  ever  been  put  forward.  It  is  complimen¬ 
tary  to  the  Methodists  and  other  church  or¬ 
ganizations,  and  it  is  a  speech  that  will  in¬ 
crease  the  great  admiration  which  has  always 
been  expressed  in  the  old  world,  among  Eng¬ 
lish,  French,  German,  and  other  nations, 
toward  President  Roosevelt. 


President  Roosevelt’s 
Address 


After  outlining  the  benefit  which  France 
had  brought  to  Algiers,  Great  Britain  to 
Egypt  and  India,  and  the  United  States  to 
the  Philippines,  President  Roosevelt  said: 

In  speaking  tonight  I  wish  to  lay  stress 
upon  the  missionary  side  of  the  general  work 
in  the  foreign  lands.  America  has  for  over  a 
century  done  its  share  of  missionary  work. 
We  who  stay  at  home  should  as  a  matter  of 
duty  give  cordial  support  to  those  who  in  a 
spirit  of  devotion  to  all  that  is  highest  in  hu¬ 
man  nature  spend  the  best  part  of  their  lives 
in  trying  to  carry  civilization  and  Christianity 
into  lands  which  have  hitherto  known  little  or 
nothing  of  either.  The  work  is  vast,  and  it  is 
done  under  many  and  widely  varied  condi¬ 
tions.  Personally  I  have  always  been  particu¬ 
larly  interested,  for  instance,  in  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  work  done  by  the  American  schools 
and  colleges  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  both  Tur¬ 
key  in  Europe  and  Turkey  in  Asia — a  work 
which  has  borne  such  wonderful  fruit  among 
the  Bulgarians,  among  Syrian  and  Armenian 
Christians,  and  also  among  the  Mohammedans  ; 
and  this  although  among  the  Mohammedans 
there  has  been  no  effort  to  convert  them,  sim¬ 
ply  an  effort  to  make  them  good  citizens,  to 
make  them  vie  with  their  fellow  citizens  who 
are  Christians  in  showing  those  qualities  which 
it  should  be  the  pride  of  every  creed  to  de- ■ 
velop;  and  the  present  movement  to  introduce 
farreaching  and  genuine  reforms,  political  and 
social,  in  Turkey,  an  effort  with  which  we 
all  keenly  sympathize,  is  one  in  which  these 
young  Moslems,  educated  at  the  American 
schools  and  colleges,  are  especially  fitted  to 
take  part. 


WORK  IN  AFRICA 

Bishop  Hartzell’s  work  has  been  done  in 
Africa,  the  continent  in  which  of  all  others 
there  has  been  the  most  need  for  Christian 
work,  and  in  which  that  work  i  hows  signs  of 
reaching  its  widest  development.  It  has  been 
indeed  a  Dark  Continent,  and  some  of  the 
white  men  who  have  gone  thither  have  by  their 
acts  deepened  the  gloom.  Let  us  as  a  race  be 
thankful  that  so  many  other  men  have  gone 
thither  to  strive  for  the  uplift  of  the  people,  to 
strive  for  the  betterment  of  conditions.  Our 
own  country  has  in  the  past  committed  grave 
wrong  against  Africa  for  which  it  should 
amply  atone,  and  no  better  atonement  can  be 
made  than  that  which  is  being  made  by  the 
American  missionaries  of  every  creed  and 
church,  who  are  now  doing  so  much  in  almost 
every  comer  of  Africa  for  the  physical,  the 
intellectual  and  the  moral  betterment  of  the 
people.  I  hope  there  will  be  the  most  hearty 
support  of  these  men  who  in  far  off  regions  are 
fighting  for  progress  in  things  of  the  spirit  no 
less  than  in  things  of  the  body.  Let  us  help 
them  to  make  the  missions  centers  of  indus¬ 
trial  no  less  than  of  ethical  teaching ;  for  un¬ 
less  we  raise  the  savage  in  industrial  efficiency 
we  cannot  permanently  keep  him  on  a  high 
plane  of  moral  efficiency,  nor  yet  can  we  render 
him  able  to  hold  his  own  in  the  world. 

Bishop  Hartzell,  I  greet  you ;  and  I  extend 
my  heartiest  good  wishes  to  the  great  Metho¬ 
dist  body  on  this  diamond  jubilee  of  its  far- 
reaching  work  in  Africa.  No  denomination 
has  done  more  zealous  and  effective  mission¬ 
ary  work  than  the  Methodists.  They  were  in 
many  large  regions  west  of  the  Alleghenies  the 
pioneers  of  missionary  work  in  our  own  land ; 
and  their  missionaries  are  now  to  be  found  in 
every  continent  and  under  every  clime. 

FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION  OF  METHODISM 

In  Africa,  on  the  West  Coast,  the  foreign 
missionary  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  was  begun  seventy-five  years  ago. 

From  that  beginning  a  world-wide  mission¬ 
ary  movement  has  developed  which  now  in- 


volves  the  annual  expenditure  of  $3,000,000 
from  America,  besides  large  amounts  raised  on 
the  various  foreign  fields.  This  great  work 
includes  the  establishment  and  maintenance,  in 
several  foreign  countries,  of  churches  and  hos¬ 
pitals,  schools  of  various  grades  and  kinds  and 
farreaching  evangelistic  effort.  In  recent 
years,  with  the  opening  of  that  continent  to 
civilization,  the  work  in  Africa  has  grown  to 
large  proportions,  and  the  Church  is  face  to 
face  with  unparalleled  opportunities  and  re¬ 
sponsibilities  in  the  strengthening  of  the  cen¬ 
ters  it  now  occupies  and  in  answering  the  calls 
for  enlargement. 

DIAMOND  JUBILEE 

The  missionary  authorities  of  the  Church, 
with  the  cordial  approval  of  the  Board  of 
Bishops,  have  designated  the  year  1909  as 
Africa  Diamond  Jubilee  year.  The  nearly 
twenty  thousand  pastors  of  the  Church  will 
present  to  their  people  the  claims  of  Africa 
as  a  mission  field  and  ask  for  jubilee  offerings. 
The  amount  asked  for  from  America  is  $300,- 
000.  Suitable  literature  is  being  published 
for  wide  distribution.  In  addition  to  the  con¬ 
tributions  in  money  it  is  fully  expected  that  a 
large  number  of  well  prepared  young  men  and 
women  will  consecrate  their  lives  to  service  in 
different  parts  of  the  Dark  Continent. 

A  NEW  AyBICA 

The  twentieth  century  will  see  and  is  now 
seeing  the  transformation  of  Africa  into  a  new 
world.  Within  a  few  years  its  vast  domain 
has  been  partitioned  among  various  European 
nations.  Tht-.^  nations  are  expending  enor¬ 
mous  sums  of  money  and  utilizing  their  best 
statesmanship  and  colonizing  abilities  in  the 
development  of  colonial  empires  of  wide  extent 
and  extraordinary  material  possibilities. 
Steamship  lines  encircle  the  continent.  A 
continental  system  of  railways  and  of  lake  and 
river  steamboats  will  soon  extend  northward 
from  Cape  Town  six  thousand  miles  to  Cairo, 
while  branch  lines  will  unite  the  east  and  west 
coasts  at  several  points.  The  latest  results 


of  science  are  being  utilized  in  mining  and 
agriculture,  while  scholarly  experts  in  differ¬ 
ent  centers  of  Europe  are  studying  the  ques¬ 
tions  of  native  languages  and  religions,  as  well 
as  the  best  methods  of  advancing  civilization 
among  the  many  millions  of  native  peoples. 
The  wealth  of  the  commerce  which  will  be  de¬ 
veloped  cannot  be  estimated.  The  white  man 
rules ;  but  there  is  only  one  white  man  on  the 
continent  to  one  hundred  others,  who  are 
either  barbaric  black  heathen  or  fanatical  Mo¬ 
hammedans. 

Self-interest  and  competition  will,  I  believe, 
unite  in  making  the  governments  fair  to  the 
people,  and  the  indomitable  energy  of  the  ad¬ 
venturous  settlers  and  the  wealth  of  the  na¬ 
tions  behind  them  will  result  in  exploiting  the 
vast  commercial  resources  of  the  continent. 
But  there  is  a  question  that  is  larger  than 
either  government  or  trade,  and  that  is  the 
moral  well-being  of  these  vast  millions  who 
have  come  under  the  protection  of  modern 
governments.  The  representative  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion  must  have  his  place  side  by  side 
with  the  man  of  government  and  trade,  and 
for  generations  that  representative  must  be 
supplied  in  the  person  of  the  foreign  mission¬ 
ary  from  America  and  Europe.  Civilization 
can  only  be  permanent  and  continue  a  blessing 
to  any  people  if,  in  addition  to  promoting  their 
material  well-being  it  also  stands  for  an  or¬ 
derly  individual  liberty,  for  the  growth  of  in¬ 
telligence,  and  for  equal  justice  in  the  admin¬ 
istration  of  law.  Christianity  alone  meets  these 
fundamental  requirements. 

CHANGE  OF  SENTIMENT  REMARKABLE 

The  change  of  sentiment  in  mvor  of  the  for¬ 
eign  missionary  in  a  single  generation  has  been 
remarkable.  The  whole  world,  which  is  rapid¬ 
ly  coming  into  neighborhood  relations,  is  recog¬ 
nizing  as  never  before  the  real  needs  of  man¬ 
kind,  and  is  ready  to  approve  and  strengthen 
all  the  moral  forces  which  stand  for  the  uplift 
of  humanity.  There  must  be  government  for 
the  orderly  and  permanent  development  of  so¬ 
ciety.  There  must  be  intercourse  among  peo¬ 
ples  in  the  interests  of  commerce  and  growth. 


But,  above  all,  there  must  be  moral  power, 
established  and  maintained  under  the  leader¬ 
ship  of  good  men  and  women.  The  upright 
and  farseeing  statesman,  the  honest  and  capa¬ 
ble  trader,  the  devoted  Christian  missionary 
represent  the  combined  forces  which  are  to 
change  the  Africa  of  today  into  the  greater 
and  better  Africa  of  the  future. 

RESPONSIBILITY  OF  AMERICA 

The  responsibility  of  America  for  the  moral 
well-being  of  the  people  of  Africa  is  manifest. 
Our  wealth  and  power  have  given  us  a  place 
of  influence  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 
But  world-wide  influence  and  power  mean 
more  than  dollars  or  social,  intellectual  or  in¬ 
dustrial  supremacy.  They  involve  a  responsi¬ 
bility  for  the  moral  welfare  of  others  which 
cannot  be  evaded. 

The  United  States  has  no  territorial  inter¬ 
ests  in  Africa,  and  may  never  have.  The  Re¬ 
public  of  Liberia  was  the  outgrowth  of  immi¬ 
gration  movements  from  our  colored  popula¬ 
tions.  But  beyond  a  paternal  interest  the 
United  States  has  no  organic  relation  with  or 
responsibility  to  that  government.  We  are 
friendly  to  all  governments  on  the  continent, 
and  stand  with  them,  to  the  extent  of  our  in¬ 
fluence,  for  righteous  rule,  especially  as  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  vast  native  populations.  Our 
commercial  relations,  already  large,  will  grow 
to  vast  proportions  in  coming  years.  But  be¬ 
yond  questions  of  rule  or  traffic  are  the  re¬ 
sponsibilities  of  America  as  to  the  moral 
uplift  of  the  people  of  Africa.  This  respon¬ 
sibility  is  to  be  met  in  co-operation  with  the 
Christian  forces  of  other  nations.  So  vast  is 
this  problem  of  redeeming  a  continent  which 
has  lain  for  thousands  of  years  in  darkness 
that  all  sections  of  the  Christian  Church  must 
have  a  hand  in  this  great  work.  The  few 
score  of  missionaries  who  are  now  on  the  field 
from  America  should  be  multiplied  in  the  near 
future,  and  the  money  contributed  to  Africa 
should  be  doubled  over  and  over  again  year 
after  year.  It  is  a  joy  to  learn  that  among 
the  missionary  forces  in  Africa,  from  different 
lands  and  representing  different  branches  of 


the  Church,  there  are  fraternal  and  mutually 
helpful  relations. 

The  responsibility  of  America  toward  Africa 
is  'emphasized  because  of  our  past  history,  and 
because  of  the  number  of  our  citizens  who  are 
of  African  descent.  As  a  result  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  that  crime  of  the  ages,  and  of  two 
and  a  half  centuries  of  slavery  in  America,  the 
United  States  has  nearly  10,000,000  of  colored 
people  as  a  part  of  its  citizenship.  No  other 
country  outside  of  Africa  has  so  large  a  Negro 
population ;  and,  what  is  more,  there  are  no 
other  10,000,000  Negroes  in  the  world  who 
own  as  much  property  and  have  as  large  a  per¬ 
centage  who  are  intelligent,  moral  and  thrifty. 
The  education  and  uplift  of  the  American 
Negro  now  going  forward  should  be  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  increase  of  the  missionary  and 
Christian  forces  on  the  continent  from  which 
his  ancestors  came.  The  number  of  those  who 
go  as  missionaries  to  Africa  will  increase ;  and 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  a  large 
share  of  the  leadership  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  continent  will  be  furnished  from  among 
our  own  colored  leaders  in  America. 

In  the  redemption  of  Africa,  all  sections  of 
the  Christian  Church  must  be  united,  but 
Methodism,  because  of  the  vast  number  it 
represents  and  the  spirit  and  methods  of  its 
movements,  should  have  a  share  of  especial 
note.  The  spirit  of  Methodism  is  the  spirit 
of  expansion  and  of  world-wide  conquests  in 
the  kingdom  of  righteousness.  John  Wesley’s 
motto  was :  “The  world  is  my  parish.”  I  hope 
the  Methodists  of  today  will  make  this  state¬ 
ment  good. 


For  further  information  or  for  literature,  address  Africa 
Diamond  Jubilee  Commission,  1 50  Fifth  Avenue,  N.  Y.  All 
gifts  should  be  sent  to  Dr.  A.  B.  Leonard,  150  Fifth  Aoe., 
N.  Y.,  made  payable  to  Homer  Eaton,  Treasurer,  and  marked 
“Special  Gif t  for  Africa." 


